


party favor

by BriMarie



Series: The Book of Love: Rini Drabbles [21]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Drabble, F/M, Longing, Lost Love, Pining, Regrets, Voicemail, Whump, Yearning, broken hearted, high school musical the musical the series - Freeform, hsmtmts, rini - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: Nini leaves a series of emotional voicemails to Ricky after they split.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: The Book of Love: Rini Drabbles [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757938
Comments: 19
Kudos: 25





	party favor

_First ring..._

_Second ring..._

_Third ring..._

_“Hey it’s Ricky! You know what to do.”_

_(Beep)_

“Hey Ricky, it’s been a while since we last spoke. I’m still trying to get used to the whole being separated thing.”

“Wow, it’s really been a whole month since I’ve last seen you, which means there’s a lot to catch you up on. First things first, I got an actual important role in the upcoming musical I auditioned for. It’s for The Little Mermaid, and I’ll be Flounder, so that’s pretty cool.”

“Next, I wrote a bunch of new songs that may or may not be about you...okay yeah they’re totally about you. Maybe the next time I see you I’ll work up the nerve to play them for you, but no promises!”

“Kourtney says she misses your antics, especially whenever you would accidentally topple over something in the school hallways while you were trying to impress me with your tricks. Man Mr. Mazzara would get so pissed when you did that.”

“Oh also my moms always talk about you. It’s overwhelming sometimes when they do. They think that talking about you will somehow make me get over you sooner. It still makes me sad to hear your name if I’m being completely honest. Anyways, I know your shitty phone only can hold so long of messages, so I’ll end it at this.”

“I hope to speak with you soon, bye.”

***

_“Hey it’s Ricky! You know what to do.”_

“Hey Ricky, it’s been what like a month and a half since we spoke in person and two weeks since I left my first voicemail. It’s fine you didn’t respond to my first message. I already knew you wouldn’t pick up because...well why would you?”

“That’s not what I was calling about though. I’m just giving you another unwanted update on my life. I just needed to complain to someone because no one understood me like you did, and you were such a good listener.”

“I had a really bad day. It seemed like the world really wanted to see me fail today more than usual. For starters, I had to walk to school because my car decided to not start up and I missed the bus. Everyone else was already at school and my moms were at work, so I couldn’t ask them for a ride.”

“I failed a math test I had been studying for a long time for. I realized it was probably because I was too busy thinking about you while I was taking it. Not that I’m blaming you though!”

“The day only seemed to get worse because my heels decided to give up on me during rehearsals. I fell while singing my solo and landed on my wrist awkwardly. Guess who has to wear a cast for the next month?”

“Honestly I guess the day wasn’t all bad. When I got home, my Momma C made me an Oreo milkshake. I lit up the scented cinnamon candle you gave me for my 17th bday to warm me up, and I held Franklin close to my chest. I instantly felt ten times better.”

“I think I hear my mom coming up the stairs, and I already know she’s gonna check up on me. She’ll totally worry about me for leaving you this message, so I’m gonna hang up. Talk to you later!”

***

_“Hey it’s Ricky! You know what to do.”_

“Damn, it’s been a second. Haven’t heard your voice since that horrible night in January, and I admit that it feels weird. When you just suddenly stop talking to someone you’ve been friends with since kindergarten, it’s hard to not feel the absence.”

“Just giving another update on my life. Tonight was prom, and I wanna say I had a blast. I wanna say I lived my teenage dream of having a 90s rom com style prom with after parties and drunk seniors singing along to old jams. I wish I could say I enjoyed taking group photos and eating out with my friends, but I’d be lying. And one thing I never did with you was lie, and I’m not gonna start now.”

“EJ Caswell, you know that water polo jock who also likes theater, asked me to prom. I said yes because I had no real reason to say no. It’s not like you would’ve asked since I knew you wouldn’t be coming.”

“EJ was a perfect gentleman the whole night, but I could tell he was trying his best to avoid talking about you. He’d give me sympathetic eyes and would rub my back if he saw me spacing out since he knew I was thinking about you.”

“I couldn’t enjoy my last prom because I was too busy missing you. God fucking dammit I miss you so much right now Ricky. It felt so wrong to even be dancing with someone who wasn’t you. It was supposed to be you.”

She began choking up and had to calm herself down to continue.

“I just wish you were here with me. I want you back, but I know I can never have you after what happened. I hope you’re doing well wherever you may be. Goodbye.”

***

_“Hey it’s Ricky! You know what to do.”_

“Hey buddy, so something totally major happened today. Graduation! Honestly I have to admit I wasn’t too fond of the whole process. I mean who the hell decided to make us walk at 9 am??!! We barely like getting up at 10 am. Also, me being a person with a last name at the end of the alphabet is a literal nightmare even if I’m an honors grad that’s ahead of the regular graduates.”

“I smiled when I heard them call your name. Carlos was sitting beside me and held my hand to comfort me because he knew I’d get emotional. I wasn’t as sad though because I think I’m starting to get over you...but then I realized you wouldn’t be taking photos with me.”

“When I look at my old grad photos when I’m older, I won’t be able to find one picture with your face in it and that _kills_ me inside because it’s my fucking fault.”

“You and I were gonna go rent a hotel room for a weekend without our parents knowing to celebrate graduating in a few hours. We were gonna say we were staying at other friends houses so they wouldn’t be suspicious. It took me a lot of convincing to agree, but all you had to say was ‘live a little’ for me to agree.”

“I think I hear my moms calling for me, so I’m gonna hang up. Congrats to you too by the way. I’m super proud of what you were able to accomplish. I-I still love you, and I wish you the best.”

***

_“Hey it’s Ricky! You know what to do.”_

“It’s not fucking fair! It’s not fucking fair that I don’t get to ever give you an appropriate goodbye! Had I known that was my last time holding you and talking to you, I would’ve said more. I would’ve said how much I love you. I would’ve apologized for yelling at you over something so minuscule. I didn’t know your parents were struggling with their relationship at the time.”

She takes a moment to muster up the strength to speak coherently through the tears and frog in her throat.

“I’m heading off to college in New York in two weeks. I got accepted into Juilliard like you said I would. You’re the first person I wanted to tell, but I can’t because there’s no possible way to. We were gonna both apply to New York schools so we can get out of this rusty old town and live life together. You were gonna apply to NYU because it’s not too far from my school.”

“A year ago, we said we were gonna go on a cross country road trip there, and we would’ve headed out this Friday had we not gotten in that stupid fucking fight that changed my life forever.”

“I’m sorry it’s my fault we’re not together right now! I’ve been kicking myself every day for it! I’ll never get to hear your voice again, and it absolutely kills me inside.”

“I know it’s basically impossible to hear your voice again, but if you somehow are listening to me please respond.”

She waits a few seconds, and then another ten seconds, and then a full minute. This was stupid. Of course he wasn’t gonna answer. She was insane for thinking so. She sighs and is about to hang up before she hears breathing on the other side.

_“Nini...”_

Her heart stops beating at the sound of his voice. Her palms began shaking.

“Ricky?”

_“Yeah babe, it’s me. You know it’s not at all your fault right? There’s some things that are out of our control.”_

She wiped away some of her tears. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

_“That’s only half true, but Nini you have to let me go. You can’t let me haunt you forever.”_

“What if I want you to?”

_“You know I wouldn’t want this.”_

She began tearing up some more. She did know he’d want her to move on and find love again, but nothing felt right without him.

“I’ll try.”

_“There’s the girl I knew and love.”_

“I’m sorry...for your accident, and the car. You didn’t deserve that.”

_“It’s okay. You know I never blamed you for that, and I’ll always be looking out for you.”_

“I miss you Ricky.”

_“I miss you too, but like I said before...it’s time to let me go. I love you. Go be happy Nini. Live life for the both of us.”_

She hears the line disconnect and begins bawling even more. 

_I’m sorry, but this number is no longer in service._

She threw her phone across the room accidentally hitting his old teddy bear, Franklin. She rest her head in her hands and lets the tears fall. She hears one of her moms knock on her door.

“Sweetheart, who were you just talking to?”

She looks at the funeral program with his face on it sitting on her nightstand. The cinnamon scented candle’s flare seemed to have lit up more than usual.

“No one mom, just an old friend.”

As she sat on her floor, she couldn’t stop hearing his last words in her head...

_Live life for the both of us._

She wiped away her tears and held her head up high. She wouldn’t let him down. She’s gonna start living a little for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the tears, but I thought of this when I watched Miss Meadows and was listening to Billie Eilish, so it was bound to be depressing.
> 
> (In case you were confused yes that last convo was all in her head).
> 
> I’m getting far too comfortable with angst.


End file.
